Sheet-metal can.



- No. 75,050. v Eatantad Dec. 2. I902. F. W. GALBflAlTl-l, In.

SHEET IETAL CAN. (Applicttlon ma Aug. 13. 1001.

(No Model.)

rn STATES PATENT. CFFrcE.

FREDERICK W. GALBRAITH, JR, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHEET-M ETAL CAN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 715,050, dated December 2, 1902.

Application filed August 13, 1901. Serial No. 71,964. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK W. GAL- BRAITH, J r., a citizen of the United States, residing at Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Sheet-Metal Cans or Pails, of which the following is a specification, accompanied by drawings forming a part of the same and containing a full, clear, and exact description of the can or pail embodying my invention.

This invention relates to that class of sheetmetal cans or pails employed by dealers for the reception and storage of various articles of merchandisesuch, for example, as lard, cottolene,oil,&c.and which frequently have their outer surfaces finished by lacquering or similar process and have various inscriptions printed upon said outer surface by lithographing or otherwise; and the object of my invention is to provide means for connecting a bail to cans or pails of this description whereby the bail is securely attached to the pail without interfering with the process of lacquering or printing the body of the pail while it is still in the form of a flat metallic sheet or before it is shaped to form the cylindrical body of the pail, thereby enabling the processes of lacquering and lithographing the outer surface of the pail to be applied to all parts of the surface of the flat metallic sheet and providing means for the secure attachment of the bail without disfiguring said lacquered and printed surface. It can also be employed to advantage even in cases where the pails are neither lithographed nor lacquered. I attain these desirable results by means of the novel construction as hereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a sheet-metal can or pail having a bail attached thereto and embodying my invention. Fig. 2 shows, on a larger scale, a detached portion of the pail-body represented in sectional view through the center of one of the bail-ears and showing the end of the bail held therein. Fig. 3 represents a portion of the pail-body containing one of the bail-ears and showing a circular'disk applied to the inner side of the pail, a portion of said disk having been removed for the purpose of disclosing the reoess formed by the bail-ear.

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts in the different figures.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, A denotes the body of the can or pail, and I3 the flanged top or cover.

C denotes a wire bail having its ends hooked and engaging the body of the pail by the insertion of its hooked ends in holes or openings C in the center of projecting bail-ears formed on diametrically opposite sides of the pail-body and near its upper end, one of said ears being shown at D, Fig. l, and in sectional view in Fig. 2. The bail-earsD areintegral with the body of the pail and are most readily and economically formed in the proper position thereon by stain ping or embossing the flat sheet metal in proper places, so that when the sheet metal is bent to form the cylindrical body of the pail the perforated bail-ears will be brought into proper position upon diametrically opposite sides of the pail to receive the hooked ends of the bail, said hooked ends being contained in the recesses or depressions D, formed upon theinside of the pail-body by the operation of stamping or embossing the bail-ears. If desired, in given cases this stamping could of course be done after the pail is formed. The recesses D are then covered by the application of disks E, applied to the inner side of the pail-body by any suitable and known method. The disks E may be cut from sheet metal and soldered to the inside of the pail-body, or the disks may be cemented or otherwise attached to the inner side of the pail. This may be so done as to render the pail water-tight, as where it is to be filled with oil, hot lard, or other liquid, or the disks may be soldered or otherwise fastened at two or more points, which will suflice where the contents are not such as to require a perfectly-tight innersurface. One convenient method of applying the disks consists in cementing a sheet of cloth, paper, or similar fibrous or absorbent material to one side of the sheet of tin and afteritis dry cutting out suitable disks, thereby forming a lining adapted to hold a quantity of adhesive material by which the disk is secured to the pail-body. While these disks are preferably circular pieces of sheet metal, of course other shapes could be used, and the term disk is employed throughout to cover the various practicable shapes.

By my improved construction of the bailears the entire strain exerted by the bail is received directly by the pail-body,for the reason that the bail-ears are integral therewith. The inner cylindrical form of the pail may be preserved by making the disks E so thin as to make no appreciable projection into the interior of the pail. The marked advantage of my improved form of construction consists, however, in enabling the pail-body to be lacquered and lithographed in its fiat state and prior to the embossing or shaping of the bailears, allowing the bail-ears to be formed integrally with the body of the pail, and avoiding the disfigurement of the finished outer surface of the pail incident to the attachment of the bail-ears by soldering or otherwise, and enabling the bail-ear itself to be subjected to the same lacquering and lithographing processes which are employed in finishing the outer surface of the pail-body, so that when the pail is completed the entire outer surface presents a uniform lacq uered appearauce,and any printed or lithographic design employed for decorative purposes can be extended over or around the bail-ears, as the pail-body and bail-ears present a continuous and unbroken surface, with the exception of the concentric openings or holes 0, which are punched in the bail-ears to receive the hooked ends of the bail.

The receptacles to which my invention is particularly adaptedsuch, for example, as lard-pails and the 1ikeare now extensively used and are manufactured in immense quantities, and great pains are frequently taken to impart a finished and decorated appearance to their outer surface in order that the packages may present an attractive appearance, and it is a commonly-practiced method to lacquer the outside of the pail in order to give an attractive color or tint to the tinned sheet metal of which the pail-body is composed, and the outer surface is commonly lithographed in order to apply the requisite printed matter indicative of the contents of the package, together with some decorative design. The process of lacquering has been found in practice to be most conveniently applied by mechanical means consisting in stamping the surface of thesheets from which the pail-body is formed with an absorbent pad containing the lacquering material,thereby applying at a single motion and instanta neously a uniform coating of lacquer to the entire surface of the sheet metal, and the printed matter and design are usually applied bylithographing the surface of the sheet metal. Several sheets at once can be subjected to each process. To accomplish these mechanical processes after the sheet metal has been formed into the cylindrical pailbody involves expensive and complicated appliances and great difficulty in their operation. It, on the other hand, these mechanical processes of lacquering and lithographin g are applied to the sheet metal in its flat state, the bail-ears are then applied to the outer surface of the pail-body by soldering or otherwise, the finished surface of the pail-body is not only disfigured, but the bail-ear itself must be separately finished, resulting in a lack of uniformity in appearance. If the bail-ears are applied to the sheet metal in its flat state before lithographing and lacquering, it is difficult to perform the operation of lithographing and lacquering over the raised surface of the bail-ears, and if the bail-ears are attached by soldering additional difficulties are encountered in applying the lacquer to the uneven-soldered surface. By my improved process a sheet-metal plate of the desired size to form the pail-body can have the lacquering and lithographing applied to cover all or any portion of the outer surface of the pail desired, and the bail-ears are then formed without injury by stamping projecting bosses and perforating each with a hole to receive the hooked end of the bail. A disk is then attached to the inside to cover the recess caused by stamping the bail-ear, thereby forming a pocket to contain the hooked end of the bail and allowits necessary movement. The disk applied to the inner side of the pail not only prevents leakage, but also prevents the accumulation within the pocket of the bail-ear of any portion of the contents of the pail. The inner side of-the pail presents a substantially smooth surface, and the outer surface of the pail-body presents a continuous and unbroken surface formed from a single piece of metal and Without the projection of any separate substance to receive the bail, and the weight of the pail is supported directly by the body of the pail.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is I l. A pail and ears for the said pail, each ear consisting of two sections, an inner and an outer section, a chamber intervening the two sections, the outer section of the ear being struck up outwardly from the body of the pail and provided with an aperture and the inner section of the car being attached to the inner face of the pail opposite the other section, as and for the purpose described.

2. A lacquered or decorated pail having ears, each ear comprising an outer section integral with the body and of semispherical form, beingstruck up from the body and provided With an aperture and an inner section secured to the inner face of the body, the two sections of the car being in registry, forming a space between them in which the bent terminals of a bail may turn, as described.

Dated this 23d day of July, 1901.

FREDERICK W. GALBRAITH, JR.

Witnesses:

ARTHUR F. PRATT, BENJ. MCCORMICK. 

